After the Fall
by seaweedfma
Summary: This is the first fic I ever wrote in 2006. Roy x Ed pairing, set right after Episode 25 of the original anime. Rated Mature for sexual situations. I abandoned writing it, so it's marked as complete. After a death, Roy finds solace in a most unusual way.
1. Chapters 1 and 2

Title: After the Fall, Chapters 1 and 2  
Author: SeaweedOtter  
Beta: Chapter 1 beta'ed by cuylerjade Chapter 2 no beta  
Characters: Roy x Ed (and a tiny bit of Hawkeye emo in chapter 1) And maybe even some implied Roy x Hughes...  
Rating: R to NC-17 overall for language and nudity--- PG-13 in chapter 1 for Hawkeye emo, and PG for chapter 2, both have a little language.

Warnings: The story changes the continuity just a little bit from when it takes place at the end of episode 25 in the TV series. It takes place after Hughes' death but before Ed, Al, and Winry take the train to Rush Valley.

Summary: After the funeral for Maes Hughes, Roy was feeling rather... vulnerable.  
Copyrights: The characters obviously belong to their creators, not me.

Read all the parts of the story so far HERE!

After the Fall  
Chapter 1

The sky had been gray and cloudy that day. Big, black clouds, heavy with moisture, ready to burst forth with their precious liquid. Thankfully though, the rain had held off, at least until after the somber ceremony. And he had wished for it to rain, at least the rain would have made the thoughts he had been having of setting himself aflame impossible. As it was, the sky was still black - dark, foreboding and inhumane. Yet he was still here, soaking wet and miserable.

The funeral had been a rather boring affair, as funerals usually go. The preacher had a dull monotone voice that got under your skin and grated you down to your last nerve, but being a man of the cloth, he was of course safe from any sort of retaliation that the annoyance of his voice would cause.

The colonel resisted the urge to keep checking his watch, knowing that it was terribly rude of him. That was especially true since he was standing so close to the widow and her child, who was now tugging on her mommy's arm and asking when daddy was going to wake up. It almost brought a tear to his eyes. Almost.

As a colonel, he couldn't cry. He had to be strong and stone faced. He kept telling himself that. No matter how many times he repeated that mantra to himself, he could never quite totally believe it. Quickly he looked around at the faces close to him. Some were red-eyed, with tears streaking their cheeks. Others were as stone faced as him. Some didn't really know Hughes and didn't care about this whole affair, and others, he figured, were trying to hold back their emotions and be the good soldiers they knew they should be.

Time ticked away ever so slowly, the preacher droning on and on about how Hughes, who was posthumously raised two ranks, was in a good place now, and that nobody there should grieve for him. He had been taken up into Heaven, which made the much of the sobbing and crying start again anew.

Not for the colonel. He fought back the lump in his throat, the tightness that shortened his breathing to almost wheezing, pathetic gasps, and the wetness that wanted to well up at the corners of those almond shaped black eyes. With an abrupt clearing of his throat, he fought it back and straightened himself up, playing the good wooden soldier, the ever loyal dog of the military.

It was probably an eternity for all of the people at the funeral that bleak and overcast day. When the preacher eventually told everyone to go in peace, there were more than a few sighs of relief. Some people were finally able to stop holding back the well of emotions that they had been damming during the service itself, and started to cry and hold each other, finally looking to others for support.

But still, the colonel stayed, his face an emotionless chiseled stone. The guests slowly started to trickle away. At first, the ones who didn't really want to be there quickly dissipated - the generals and other military men who only knew Hughes in passing and had been ordered by their superiors to be here, though for the most part they had better things to do than to get all depressed by watching people cry over someone that they may or may not have seen walked past while strolling down the hallways at Central.

Some took at least a few moments to walk over to the grieving family and said a little prayer or words of sympathy to the widow and her small child, who by now had cried herself to sleep and was resting under the umbrella, tucked safe and warm in her mother's arms.

Others stayed for a while longer. Some knelt down at the grave and talked to Hughes for a few moments. They were having one last conversation with a man who loved to talk about anything and everything. Although to many, it seemed most of the time the conversation went back to his daughter and whatever her latest exploit was, from her first swimsuit, to whatever she had last cooked with her mother.

In a slow trickle, the people eventually filed out. The group of people closest to Hughes- Havoc, Armstrong, and Fuery all filed past the colonel. They put their hand on his shoulder and gave him a gentle pat, not having any words that would ease the pain he was rather unsuccessfully trying to hide behind those dark black eyes of his.

Hawkeye stayed for a few moments longer. Gently, she rubbed the back of his signature white glove, the one with the red Flame Alchemist's circle on it, with her own naked hand. She opened her mouth once, then a few moments later, closed it again. She was not sure what comfort she could be to him now.

Deep in the dark recesses of her mind, she knew what she wanted to do to help ease his suffering. There was nothing she would have wanted more than to take him in her arms and hold him tight to her and never let him go. He would be so close to her that scarcely a breeze could slip between them. She would hold the colonel hard and fast, bare naked flesh against bare naked flesh, and she would lean up and softly whisper in his ear that it would be okay. She was here for him now, and she always would be. Then they would kiss, a long, languishing kiss that took both of their breaths away. Neither of them would want it to end. Not a word would have to be spoken as they would be together, so neither of them would have to feel so empty and alone.

She knew, though, that it wouldn't be okay for either of them. She knew that she could offer him no comfort or words to slow the ache that was the colonel's heart for the man who by most accounts had come to be more of a talkative little brother to him than a subordinate officer.

Even Riza Hawkeye eventually and wordlessly slipped back into the ever-increasing darkness of night. He didn't even notice her leave. He didn't notice the wind blowing colder or the sun slowly sinking in the west, first bathing everything in a dull red-orange glow, then fading into ever darker purple and blue hues, before the light finally faded far beyond the horizon.

When he couldn't read the headstone any more for lack of light, he finally snapped back into reality long enough to figure that that there was really no reason at all to stay any longer. The chill in the air bit thru his trademark blue State uniform, flapping the stiff fabric in the breeze and causing his hair to brush over his eyes and flicker in the wind.

With a very light drizzle, barely a mist in the air, the clouds finally let loose their moisture. It took only a few brief moments for the light mist to turn into a  
steady rain, then finally a torrential downpour, with raindrops moving at an awkward angle, cut and shaped by the wind. The wind and the rain cut the colonel deep, thru the clothes, thru the skin, all the way to the bone. Was it the cold, or was it something else - something more sinister that was biting him that deep? He tried to move, to step away from the grave of his dear friend Hughes, but his feet may as well have been made of lead, as he couldn't seem to will himself to shift even slightly.

He stood in the cold, and stared at the gravestone. It was tall and proud, hard and angular, just like the man that was buried underneath it. Every word, every single letter of the headstone for Maes Hughes was burned into his brain like a snap from his fingers. He wanted it that way. He didn't want to let himself ever forget about this wonderful man who was brought down long before his time.

This was his burden, his curse to carry with him for the rest of his life. His burden was to remember the man who had left a wife and young child behind- while he, still without someone to love, stood there with the pouring and driving rain, the heavy droplets stinging him as if he was willingly standing in a swarm of bees, the rain soaking him to his very core. He was very much alive, but wishing with all of his heart that he wasn't at this moment.

Guilt, it seems, can sometimes be worse than death.


	2. Chapter 3

The driver had long since left the funeral. He was only paid to stay there so long. He had a wife and kids to get back to, and while he felt bad for the people in the graveyard, he had his own life to live.

After a brief silence, where both of the men just stood, stiff and unblinking, looking uncomfortably at Hughes' grave, they realized that they had been abandoned there, and they had to find their own way back to  
town. They were both already miserably soaked through to the bone, so having to walk a short way in the rain didn't really bother them too much. As they closed the distance between the graveyard and the city, very little was said between the two. Yet they walked close to each other, without either of them even noticing how their bodies just seemed to pull close to each other, like opposite poles on a magnet. Here they were, their feet sinking into the mud with each step, the wind howling in their ears, making it  
hard to hear one another. Here they were, walking, huddling for warmth, commiserating with the rain pouring down their faces, in their eyes and ears and mouths, further discouraging any talking.

Ed, never one for staying quiet too long, finally had to break the awkward silence. "Ya know, Colonel, I know how it feels, to lose someone who you care for."

Instantly, a rush of shock went thru Roy's body. His thin black eyes went wide, and he stopped dead in his tracks, his body frozen, but not by the cold. 'Does this kid know how I felt about him? IMPOSSIBLE!' he immediately thought. He shot a rather confused look at Ed, who was looking equally as confused right back at him.

"Er... I just mean.. that we all know you looked at him like a brother. And, well, I know how it feels to lose a brother." Ed tried to take the extreme awkwardness out of the situation, but it didn't really seem to help much.

"There we go, a taxi." Ed exclaimed, pointing through the pouring rain to a barely visible car sitting, idling in the rain. He had never been more glad than at that moment to have some way of changing the  
conversation. Still though, he wondered, what in the world made the colonel react like he did to what he said? Was there something else, something going on that nobody knew about?

As they climbed into the back of the taxi, before Ed could even say anything else, the Flame Alchemist gave the driver the address of his personal home in town.

Ed was familiar with it, he had been there in the past for State parties and such, but he had never stayed long. It wasn't really that wasn't much of a party man. In fact, he felt stifled quite a bit with his brother  
always being around, and he never got to party mas much or for as long, as he would like. It was always nice to sneak a bit of alcohol, despite his age. But that of course meant that he would either spend the night on Roy's couch, which he had done many a time, or make a slow, drunken stumble the short distance to the military dorms.

No, it wasnt that at all. It was just that, occasionally, large groups of people made him nervous. There was many a time when he could feel their eyes boring into the back of his skull, burning holes thru his flesh and bone, straight into his skull. They were staring, staring at the metal joints where flesh and bone once sat, listening to the inhumane creak of automail when he walked.

It was a short drive in the rain. The raindrops hit hard on the canvas roof of the car, making an odd 'plinking' noise. It soothed Roy, the nice, smooth repetitiveness of it. But it just made Ed go nuts, for the exact same reason. Ed was more than happy when they finally pulled up to the Flame Alchemist's house.

For a colonel, it was a pretty nice abode, one level - but long and tall, brick with a red roof and many windows facing the front. The plants out front were well groomed, making Ed guess that he was using some of his funds for a gardener. He couldn't imagine that the king of procrastination Flame Alchemist would actually spend time planting and keeping up a garden. Just thinking about seeing Roy in a little smock and gardener's gloves, dirty with mud and soil made Ed chuckle a little.

Roy cocked his head, like a puppy who was trying to understand what command his master had given him. "What are you laughing about?" asked the much taller man, his face a mix of confusion and annoyance.

"Oh, nothin'", Ed replied, with the same smart ass smirk that he had been wearing a few short moments before. "I'm just thinkin' that you are not really a gardening type of guy, but this is a nice yard. I guess you must have some help, eh?"

Roy wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh at the young alchemist, or punch the kid in the face. He closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths, and for only the second time since before Hughes died, a little smile crossed his face.

"Hmmm." Roy said, pausing for a moment. "Well, it just so happens that I like gardening, and this is all my doing." He swept his hand in an arc in front of both of them, pointing towards the well manicured lawn. The small smile on Roy's face was replaced by a more smug, self satisfying smirk. He seemed rather... proud of himself.

That fairly effectively quieted Ed down, and Roy led him to the front door of his house, feeling very much the alpha male once again.


	3. Chapter 4

His hair still wet and plastered to his rounded head, the colonel was already sitting in a plush green upholstered chair close to the fire, in dry clothes, which happened to be another set of his blue pants and blue officer's jacket. Although he was fully dressed, he felt strangely naked without his trademark gloves on. He knew that he would always be safe in his own house, but as a habit, he still tended to wear those gloves around almost everywhere. It gave him a sense of control and safety. two feelings he always liked to have.

The fire was crackling in the living room, casting a strange radiant red glow around the room. When Roy had snapped his fingers to set the dry tinder alight and saw the deep red glow, and the sudden blast of heat coming from the dry timber his mind flashed some rather disturbing memories. The faces of all those Ishbalen- with just a snap of his fingers he had extinguished them all. He shivered, suddenly feeling very cold, despite the fire.

Eagerly he reached for a small wood table with several bottles on it. He chose the strongest scotch that he had, not even bothering to put ice in the glass, and with a very shaky hand, poured about as much onto the tabletop as he did into the glass. He filled it untill it splashed against the rim, and and equally shaky hand brought it to his mouth.

After a few sips, his hand steadied a bit. The thoughts slowly faded from his troubled mind, and his breath, which had been ragged and short, returned to its regular pattern. For a little while, he just stared blankly into the fire, his mind thinking about everything and nothing all at once. A sudden noise awoke him from his daydreaming. He squinted into the darkness at the door to the side when he heard the dull creak of the door. 'I need to get that damn thing oiled!' He cursed himself as it awoke him from his deep thoughts.

"You need to get that door oiled, Colonel." Fullmetal said, loud enough for Roy to hear across the room. Ed had that damn smirk on his face again as he said it, Roy noticed. 'One day someone is gonna wanna wash that smug look off his face, and I want to be there' the Flame Alchemist thought.

"Yeah, thanks, Fullmetal." Roy answered rather distractedly with a dismissive wave of his hand. As Ed came out of the darkened doorway into the flickering light of the living room, Roy saw that he had chosen one of his white dress shirts and black pants. That was fine, except that Ed, being much smaller than Roy, barely fit into them. The well wrinkled shirt hung low, almost to his knees, and the sleeves went a couple of inches past his hands. The pants were held up at an odd angle, and he was desperatly using his automail hand to try to keep the material around his waist. The pants were even longer on Ed than they would be normally. Roy, being rather leggy, had to have the hem a bit longer than usual, and that caused Ed to keep tripping on all the extra material that clung around his legs. It was a very comical site, and for the second time today, Ed made Roy smile, even chuckle a bit at the rather humorous little alchemist.

Halfway across the room, Ed stopped concentrating on trying to keep the pants up, and looked up at the colonel. He stopped with a clank of his automail leg, cocking his head to the side a bit, like a confused puppy at the chuckling colonel. Roy was no longer chuckling, but laughing outright. Ed tried to stumble forward for a few more steps, then he figured out why the Flame Alchemist found him so funny. His borrowed pants had fallen, giving Roy a decent look at the still damp underclothes that Ed had on underneath. They left pretty much nothing to the imagination, the dampness made them cling to his legs, showing every curve of his legs and the parts between.

Ed had never felt so embarrassed! His cheeks flushed a hot, deep red as he looked down in horror at the pants pooling around his ankles. He tried to bend over quickly to pull them up, but it was too fast, he got lightheaded and dizzy and only managed to make it worse by losing his balance and falling over. He tried to grab for something to hold onto, but there was nothing close by, and his arm flailed wildly in the air, swimming towards nothing. He fell at an awkward diagonal, his head hitting the corner of a table that he hadn't noticed before. Before his head hit the carpet below, he was already blacking out, while barely being able to make out the colonel yelling "ED!" at the top of his lungs.


	4. Chapter 5

"Fullmetal..... Fullmetal... Are you awake?"

Everything was fuzzy at first when he opened his eyes. He tried to will his eyes to focus, but they were as groggy as he was feeling at that moment, it seemed. He heard the crackling fire, felt the warmth on his right side and he knew he was still in the same room that he had been in, though not in the same place, and he had no idea how much time had passed. He blinked a couple of times, making the hazy colored blurs in front of him finally come into focus.

Roy was standing over him, a very worried look on his face. Ed looked at the colonel for a moment and licked his dry, cracked lips. He tried to say something, but it only came out at a little squeak. Even with that little noise, the colonel seemed happy. He sighed, and a much more relieved look replaced the scowl of worry he had had just a moment before.

Ed looked down at himself, reflexively flexing all of his fingers and toes to make sure that they were all there. Yep, half automail and half human, just like he had been before. He sighed slightly, wishing all theses years with automail and a tin can for a brother were just a bad dream, but he knew much better than that now. After checking all of his extremities, he took a look at where he was. He was on the Flame Alchemist's couch, in the den he had walked in however long before. He had a blanket covering his body up to his neck, but he was no longer wearing the colonel's clothes. The pants were bunched on the floor where they had dropped off of his short, skinny legs. But the shirt.. where was the shirt?

His eyes went wide, and a sense of dread filled him. What was going on? Where were the clothes? Why had the colonel done this? Was he in some sort of danger? In a panic he scrunched his body up, curling into a fetal position and pulling the scratchy wool, dirty yellow army regulation blanket up over his head.

"Wh- what the hell is going on, Mustang?!" Ed shrieked, wondering what kind of heinous things that the superior officer had in mind for him. He was certainly outmatched physically. The colonel was much taller by at least a head, and outweighed him as well. And that attack he had, much faster than what he could do.

"Calm down, Fullmetal." Roy had a bit of a smirk on his face. "You were bleeding on my shirt, and I hate doing laundry." He gave the teen a smile and backed away a few steps with his arms up and palms facing the young alchemist, to show that he honestly meant the younger officer no harm. He even took off his white gloves and laid them on a table to the side. "There, does that make you feel better?" he asked. "If I had wanted to do something with you, I already would have." he said rather matter of factly with no tone in his voice. He meant neither malice nor jest with that, just merely stating the truth.

Ed could only slightly nod. He didn't know how long he had been out, but obviously it had been enough time for something to have happened if the colonel had willed it. Gingerly, he put a couple of fingers to his head and cringed a little, feeling a little sting when he hit the scab that had recently formed. He winced and shut his eyes for a moment, wondering what in the world had happened.

"Don't worry, Fullmetal. It is just a little cut. It has already stopped bleeding, as long as you dont mess with it." The colonel was smiling, but there still seemed to be a bit of worry behind those dark black eyes of his. 'Does he just care about his furniture, or does he actually give a shit about me'? Ed wondered.

"Ah, I see." Ed said with a smile. "Just an excuse to see me naked, Colonel?" Ed smirked again. That took Roy aback quite a bit. He literally took another couple of steps backwards, horror and shock etched onto his face. He had never in his entire life been accused of wanting or trying to see another man naked. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hit the junior officer for insubordination, or laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. Or was is really that ridiculous?

There was a brief few seconds of total shock while Roy digested what the younger alchemist had said. 'Was he being serious?' he though to himself 'or was he, as usual, just being a regular teenager by overreacting?' Besides being a man, Fullmetal was 14 years his junior. and besides, the kid had had his boxer shorts on the entire time.

For a moment, Roy wasn't sure what to say. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He hadn't expected to see Ed in only his boxer shorts, but it was a necessity. The pants had already fallen off, and he had been getting blood on his perfectly good work shirt. He certainly didn't want to ruin his clothes. Despite being a colonel, his salary wasn't that good. It had been really weird stripping off that shirt and seeing his younger officer in nothing but boxer shorts and his automail, scars and all. Although his consciousness would never let him admit it, it was... well... kinda nice. Deep down inside he had to admit to himself that he kind of liked the view.

"Well.. I.. um.. " This was the first time that he had been caught off guard in a while, and certainly the first time by this young, cocky, short little alchemist. "I already told you that didn't want your blood all over my clothes. Alchemy can sometimes do wonders, but it cant get a stain out of a shirt, ya know." he said, dismissively with a wave of his hand.

The smirk came back to Fullmetal's face.. a bigger, much more mischievous smile. He really did look like the cat who ate the canary. It was a snug, all-knowing smile, and that worried Roy. "Why, I do believe that you are blushing, Colonel Mustang, SIR!" he said in a slightly condescending voice, with an extra emphasis on the sir. He even added a little salute with his automailed hand, being careful to miss the still smarting cut on his forehead. Ed knew that he was outranked, and possibly going way over the line in relation to how he spoke to his superior officer, but still he seemed to push just the right buttons. It was Roy's turn to feel the hot sting of embarrassment as the blood rushed to his cheeks.


	5. Chapter 6

Roy flashed Ed an angry look. "Look, Fullmetal. I already told you why I took your clothes off. If that isn't a good enough reason for you, then you are more than welcome to get your wet clothes and get the hell out!" He pointed to the door, an angry, seething look on his face. It was either the look of a man who was getting rather annoyed, or the look of a caged animal who knew there was no way to get out of the trap. Ed wasn't sure which.

Ed couldn't help but smile when, right on cue, there was a bright flash of lightning, followed by a loud clap of thunder just a couple of seconds afterward. If Ed had believed in God, he would have thought that was His kind of joke. He shook his head, the smile growing broader on his face. He sat up from the couch, and the yellow woolen blanket fell and pooled on his lap, exposing his bare chest to the room. With a smug grin, he studied the colonel's face, to see what kind of reaction it would garner. He really wasn't sure why he did it. He didn't think he really wanted to give the colonel a peep show, but he had already seen him with his shirt off before, so it wasn't like it was something new to Mustang.

Despite his best efforts, Roy couldn't take his eyes off the young man that Ed was becoming. He had been such a little brat when they had first met, he remembered, but recently he had been taking on more responsibility. He was still a pain in the ass, but slowly he seemed to becoming less of a pain in the ass boy and more of a troubled young man.

His eyes wandered first around Ed's face, his almost dry blond hair sticking out at odd angles from laying down on the couch. His wheat colored eyes belayed his new responsibilities, they gleamed with childish enthusiasm and playfulness, as well as a deep sadness. What a strange dichotomy. But that is something this boy excelled in. His mouth was slightly cracked open, a crooked smile that seemed to fit him well. Roy's eyes continued to move downward. He wasn't sure how long he was staring, taking all of Ed in, and he tried to mentally tell himself to stop, but he just couldn't seem to do it.

'And Ed is staying quiet,' he thought. 'That either means that it hadn't been long, or Ed didn't mind being eyeballed. Or, perhaps, that he was just waiting for the right moment to make a smart ass comment.' A few more heartbeats passed, and still no smart ass comment came, and Roy's eyes drifted towards the automail on Ed's right side.

There were some very ugly pink scars on his shoulder and down his side, gruesome reminders that living human flesh used to be there. He figured that turned most people off right away. 'Maybe that was why Fullmetal never had a girlfriend. Or maybe it was just because he spent too much time with his brother going willy-nilly across the countryside.' he mused. Either way, it didn't scare Roy off at all. 'And maybe that was why Ed wasn't saying anything,' he thought. 'Perhaps he was just surprised, or even happy that he had found someone who wasn't as disgusted with his body as he was.'

Without even thinking about it, Roy moved a little closer, his ungloved hand reaching out towards the automail. He stopped a few hair lengths away, and for the first time, they locked eyes. Roy looked to Ed, silently asking for permission to touch it. He had shaken Ed's hand many times, both with and without the glove that he usually used to cover his automail hand, but this was the first time that he really, truly, saw it, and took it all in.

To the surprise of both of them, Ed nodded his head slightly. His smile faded into.. a curious look. He seemed to wonder as much about what the colonel was going to do as the colonel did. Even as Roy reached out his hand and touched the automail, he was surprised at how warm it was. It took him a moment to register the fact that this had been the side closest to the fire, and he knew enough about metal's heat conducting properties to know why. He ran one finger down the outside of the mail, tracing a line down to the elbow, and picking it back up below, making a line down to the young man's wrist, then abruptly stopping.

For a moment, he wasn't sure what to do. He knew what his heart wanted him to do, and what his head was telling him not to do. Roy was truly stumped on which he should listen to. His heart usually won out over his head, which was the main reason why he had a reputation as quite a ladies' man. His heart hadn't really failed him in the past, and perhaps, though only Roy Mustang knew the real reason, that was why he listened to his heart that time.

His finger went back up the warm automail, then tenderly, tentatively at first, he reached where the automail melded back into flesh. He stopped for a moment, and waited a few heartbeats to see if Ed was going to ask him to stop. He noticed instead that Fullmetal's eyes were lightly closed, and he was humming softly, about as close as a human to get to a feline purr, it seemed to him. He smiled a bit at the thought of the feline side of Ed. He wondered for a  
moment if this cat had claws.

Roy's index finger, calloused and charred from years of snapping his fingers, touched the younger alchemist's bare flesh, causing Ed to hiss slightly when he sucked in a soft breath. He paused for a moment, confused by the noise. But one look on Ed's face told him that was no need to hesitate any further. His finger traced over the soft pink scars on his shoulder blade, taking in all of the pain and suffering that Ed had survived all these years. He felt just a little bit bad for giving his subordinate such a hard time in the past. This boy had known more suffering than most grown men did in their entire lives.

He flattened his hand against they boy's chest. He hadn't grown any hair on his face or chest yet, and he found himself idly wondering if he had grown hair anywhere else. Part of Roy's mind screamed out 'He is just a boy!' when his mind started to wander down that dark path. He tried to shake those lingering thoughts out of his mind. 'He wasn't recoiling, he looks like he is enjoying it...' he tried to scan Ed's face. He wasn't yelling and calling him a bastard and telling him to get the hell off of him, but his face was... eerily blank.

"Ed... is.. are you.. okay?" He finally had to ask. He wanted to continue, but he needed to know that he could.

There was a pause for a moment.. A few heartbeats went by, and Roy got scared. He started to pull his hand back, but Ed softly laid his hand on top of his colonel's. "It... shouldn't be. I have never even thought about being with... another man.." Ed started. He paused again, and Roy stayed still, hardly breathing, waiting to see what the younger boy.. no.. young man was going to do next. "My mind is telling me that I shouldn't let you. I should run away. But.. But... It feels nice. I don't know what to do..." They locked eyes again. There was fear in Ed's eyes. He could see that easily. But there was something else as well. Curiosity perhaps, and an inner fire, a fire that burnt hotter than the flames that lept from his beck and call.

"I... won't do anything you don't want me to Full- er... Edward." Roy's voice was soft, unsure for once. That threw Ed off just as much if not more than having his superior officer touching his bare chest. And even worse than that, he thought that he wanted more.

"I... don't mind Colonel... er.. um... Roy..." he managed to barely squeak out the man's voice at the end. Roy shivered. He had never heard Ed say his name like that, with trepidation, but longing. A need. The fear in his eyes had lessened, there was more fire in those beautiful golden orbs.

"Just... tell me to stop... if I do something you don't like, Okay, Edward?" Ed gulped audibly, and only nodded his head, taking his hand off from on top of Roy's as softly as he had placed it there. Roy's flat palm moved to Edward's left side. He moved softly over the unblemished pectoral muscle, and over Ed's only nipple, which made Ed suck in his breath again. The room was warm, yet his nipple was standing at full attention, hard and sensitive to the lightest of Roy's touches.

Mumbling a soft prayer to a God that he didn't believe in, hoping that wasn't going too far so fast, he leaned in close to Ed, close enough for the younger man to feel his hot breath on his chest. His mouth opened softly and a tongue ever so slowly and tenderly touched the little pink bud. Ed gasped loudly. His eyes went wide, and his mouth opened. For a split second Roy was so afraid that he had done something wrong and Ed was going to yell at him.

"Oh.... g-g-god.." Ed whimpered loudly. Without even thinking about it, Ed's hand went to Roy's soft, stringy black hair, trying to hold him close to his quaking body.

Roy leaned in closer. He was less tentative now, firmer, he opened his mouth and started to suckle at the nipple, running his tongue over the tip, gently scraping the very tips of his flat teeth against the sensitive flesh. That definitely garnered a response from Ed.

"Oh.. Nnnnnng!" was all he could gasp, practically tugging on Roy's hair now in his desperate attempt for more attention. Softly, Roy drew his mouth away from the nipple, making Ed sigh in disappointment. But he waited only a fraction of a second before his mouth went to Ed's neck, nibbling lightly. His hand rubbed the nipple for a second, then moved down. Down his chest, down those abs that were way too well developed for a normal boy of his age, and down to his belly, right where the yellow blanket met his flesh.

He could feel, even without looking, without moving his hand any further, that this was really exciting to the young man. He could feel the tenting of the blanket between the young man's legs. Oh merciful Lord, if there was indeed one, he wanted to see what that ugly blanket was hiding. If the blanket was tenting as much as it seemed to, then this young man wasn't small everywhere, but he didn't dare take his eyes off Ed's beautiful, perfect neck.

"R-r-r-roy..." Ed moaned, through clenched teeth. Just the mere sound of his voice, being said by this beautiful boy, made him quiver. It made him want him even more. His mind was going a million miles a minute. He didn't know what to do.. He wanted to touch this boy, to show him love, to show him how to make him feel like he was flying. But he still didn't think that Ed had any idea what to do, or even if he wanted to do what he had no idea how to do.

"Ed.." Roy replied softly, almost sadly. He gave Ed one more kiss on the neck, then drew his hand and mouth away. He couldn't stop the moisture that came unbidden to the corners of his eyes. "I.. am... scared. I am scared that you have no idea what you really want, and that you will regret this later."

Ed looked at the colonel, confused, hurt, disappointed. "But... I do want this.. I.... want... you.." he stammered.

Softly, not sensually, but in a more comforting manner, Roy rubbed Ed's chest. "Do you? Do you really know what you want, Edward? Do you know what it is to fall in love? To fall in love with another man? Do you know how it feels when you can tell no one? When you can't hold hands or kiss in public, or even show the slightest hint of affection in the presence of others? Do you know how it feels to be ostracized for the sex of the person you love?"

Ed started to get that annoyed look on his face that came when Roy was chastising him for something or another. "Well.. no... but.." Ed stopped, honestly not sure how to respond.

"Despite my apparently flippant attitude towards love, I don't fall easily, and when I do, I don't let go." Ed understood after a moment. Colonel Bastard really did have feelings for him. This must have been something he had been hiding for a while. He always had been good at hiding his true emotions. He was giving Ed an out, to make sure he really knew what he was getting into.

"You... like me?" Ed asked, equal parts trying to rile him up, hoping for an honest answer, and getting the normally stoic and private colonel to open up just a little.

"I... have.. admired you from a distance for quite a while. But you are quite a bit younger, and besides, it is against a whole hell of a lot of regulations to fraternize with a fellow soldier. Not to mention that... well.. two men together isnt exactly welcomed with open arms." Roy admitted.

"But... you... LIKE me??" Ed seemed unable to get this concept around his brain, and Roy flashed him with a look that was a mix of bemusement, and annoyance.

"Is that really so damn hard to believe, FULLMETAL?" Roy stressed his 'formal' name.

"Considering nobody has ever... liked me, yeah. It is." Ed clamped his hand over his mouth, silently cursing himself. 'Oh, that was fucking wonderful. Now he knows you are a virgin who has no idea what he is doing. If he wanted you before, he wont now!' he thought.

The smirk grew on Roy's face, and his somewhat innocent chest rubbing took on more of the sexy wanderings it had had just a few minutes before. "Ah, so the great Fullmetal Alchemist has never had a girlfriend, huh?"

'Yeah, that is Colonel Bastard for ya' Ed thought. "I have been pretty fucking busy you know, but no. I haven't had a girlfriend, you bastard. Does that make you feel better? Now you know! The wonderful ladies' man bastard has had women, and I haven't. And maybe men too." The last part stung Roy a bit. He began to wonder if Ed thought he was just another conquest in Roy's long line of beddings. He had already told Ed that he didn't fall in love easily. What else did the shorty want?

"Oh, so you think I am not serious about you, is that it, you little brat?" Roy was getting rather annoyed, and was losing some of his arousal.

"What makes you think that I fall in love so easily?" Ed turned his question back on Roy. Startled, he just looked at the young man, perplexed. Beaten at his own game.

"I thought... you didn't like men?" He asked, unsure. he hated that Ed seemed really good at keeping him back on his heels. It both impressed and annoyed the much older man.

"Well, I never thought I did, though I always admired you from a distance." There he went, stealing Roy's words again. I guess it was about as close to an admission that Roy would get. It was good enough for him, for now.

"So... you still want to do this. You won't regret it?" Roy asked softly, hopefully. Ed just nodded.

"Well, I don't know what is going to happen tonight, or in the future, but at least lets get somewhere a bit more comfortable." Roy stood up, and offered his hand to Ed to help him up. He accepted it, and the blanket fell to the ground, revealing the younger alchemist once again, clad only in boxer shorts that were indeed tented quite high in the front. Roy had been right. There were parts of this young man that were not 'short'. Roy took his hand gently, leaving plenty of time, and room if Ed wanted to let go and not follow. His steps were slow and deliberate. Roy's mind was racing, his heart pounding in his chest, sweat forming on his brow as he led this young man back towards his bedroom.


	6. Chapter 7

The next morning came too damn soon for Roy Mustang. The sunlight streaming in the large window caused him to blink a couple of times and rub his eyes. His head pounded just a little from the alcohol he had consumed the night before. He rolled to his side like he usually did to get out of bed and relieve himself, when his eyes widened. There was a blonde laying in the bed next to him, his hair was tousled and he looked so damn peaceful, for once.

Quickly he rolled to the other side, trying as much as he could not to disturb the sleepyhead beside him. He managed to get out of bed, only making Ed shift a little in his sleep. He ambled to the bathroom, his just a little bit lighter than it had been the previous day, though the weight of yesterday still weighed heavily in his mind.

Stepping into the shower, he let the hot water and steam relax his tense muscles and clear his cloudy mind. In the last 24 hours he had not only buried his best friend, the man that he had secretly loved, but he had seduced an underage subordinate officer. "Wherever Maes is now, he must be wishing he could smack some sense into me, for several reasons." he said absently, pressing his head to the side of the shower. Tears came unbidden to his eyes. "I am so sorry, Maes. I never told you how much you meant to me!" He sunk to his knees, the hot water no longer soothing him.

Roy wasn't even aware that he had left the door cracked. He didn't hear he light knock on the door. "Colonel, are you in there?" Ed said softly, while gently pushing the door open. He gasped, not sure how to grasp what he saw. Here was his commanding officer, naked in the shower, kneeling and crying. He turned quickly to leave, but it was too late. His hand caught something on the counter and knocked it over with a clank, alerting the colonel to his presence.

"Oh... I.. Um... er.." Ed turned as red as he had when he found out the colonel had seen him in his boxers. He nervously scratched behind his head, wishing he was about anywhere but here. He wasn't sure it could ever get any more awkward that at this moment.

Roy sniffled a couple of times, then stood up, his back to Ed. "I... I am sorry you have to see me like this." he softly admitted. He reached over to turn off the water, when a much smaller metal hand touched his while he held the spigot.

"Colonel.... er... Roy. last night.. You were touching me.. and it felt nice... And then... we went to the bedroom, but.. well.. it just didn't feel right. I think we both felt it. At first, I was pissed that you didn't do anything else. But now that I think about it, it didn't feel the same. I don't know why. But.. well.. it felt nice sleeping next to you, even if you did have more clothes on than I did." He took a deep breath, steadying himself for what he was going to say next. "But.. I.. still want to explore with you. If... you still feel the same way."

The older alchemist was quiet for a second. Ed was about to move his hand and back away, when, with one fluid and apparently practiced movement, Roy grabbed Ed's hand and pulled him into the shower, boxers and all. He didn't even have time to 'eep' before Roy had the much shorter alchemist pinned against the wall of the shower. One hand pinned both of Ed's hands above his head, and the other deftly pulled the now soaked boxers to his ankles.

"So, you still think you want more, huh? " Roy had an almost sadistic look on his face. "Let's see if you are MAN enough to handle it."

Ed got an angry look on his face. He opened his mouth so speak, but anything he was going to say was drained out of him when Roy kneeled in front of him and quickly pulled down the shorter alchemist's boxer shorts to his ankles. Roy immediately put a hand on Ed's member, already slightly engorged with a need to relieve himself, and not helped by seeing his colonel naked in the shower. A firm hand grasped his length and stroked a couple of times softly.

His legs felt like they were going to give out from under him. He slapped his metal hand against the small tiles of the shower, making a loud ringing noise and sending small spidery cracks racing through the wall. Ed didn't seem to even notice, but it made Roy pause for a moment.

"Careful, Fullmetal. I don't want you breaking all my stuff!" Roy snapped, momentarily pulled away from what he had just been doing. "Good lord, I can't take you anywhere, can I?" Roy looked up, his black eyes fuming. He opened his mouth to yell again, when Ed suddenly bent down, pressing his face to Roy's. their lips met in a hard, fast, awkward kiss. Roy's eyes went wide, his breath caught in this throat. He didn't pull away in one second, or even five.

When Ed finally had to break the kiss to take a few deep breaths, Roy wasted no time in pulling him right back to him, using one had to push his head back and expose his neck, and his other hand started to wander down the right side where metal met flesh. Soft nibbles went down Ed's neck, alternating between licks and bites. Roy's expert hand quickly found the sole nipple, remembering even through his alcoholic haze how sensitive it had been.

The same two fingers that sent men to thier deaths sent Ed to heaven, so it seemed. He gasped, and his metal hand dug into the now broken tile with a high pitched squeak, but this time neither of them cared. Awkwardly his human hand found Roy's back. Fingers kneaded deeply into flesh, causing Roy to hiss in pleasure. That just encouraged him more. His bites got harder on Ed's neck, drawing a couple of tiny beads of blood.

"C-c-areful you b-b-bastard" Ed whimpered, no real threat behind his voice. Roy paused at his biting, leaning up to give Ed a soft kiss on the lips. He didn't say a word, but he kneeled down again, like he had when he first pulled Ed into the shower. But this time, he put his hands on the tiled shower on either side of Ed's hips, pinning him to the wall. His mouth went to the younger alchemist's swelled member. Ed's eyes closed and his breath came ragged.

"Oh... R-r-roy..." he softly panted. Roy shivered again.. No matter how many times ed said his name, it never got any less beautiful. It never made him shiver with pleasure any less. It just urged Roy on even more. Eagerly he took the tip of Ed in his mouth and suckled lightly, like a boy with a popsicle stick. His tongue darted across the head and underneath, on the little ridge that he knew just drives a man wild.

"Oh.... GOD!" Ed screeched, and Roy couldn't help but smile at the irony of him calling out to a God that he obviously didn't believe in. Ed bucked his hips reflexively, and Roy got his first tiny droplets of juice. He knew the boy would only last a few more moments, so he sped up his movements.

Fighting his gag reflex, he took more of the youth into his mouth. This was the only place that Ed was much larger than the rest of his small size belayed, and Roy couldn't quite get all of his new lover inside, but must have been enough for Ed. It took only a couple of second before Ed cried out "ROOOOOOY!!" and pushed his thin hips forward one more time, spilling his seed inside Roy's waiting mouth.

Ever so gently, Roy licked at the quickly retreating length. He wanted to get it nice and clean (despite the now lukewarm water) but not overstimulate the boy on his first time. He was guessing that there would be time for that later. He took a deep breath and licked his lips before the water claimed the last tastes of this new love, and stood up, gently caressing the panting boy's hair.

"So, Ed. Do you think think that this is what you want?" He stayed quiet for a moment, waiting for the poor kid to catch his breath before he could even think about answering. Roy tried to pass the awkward moments of silence by thinking about all the things that he could teach this young man, if indeed he had enjoyed what had just happened. When Ed stayed quiet, Roy started to worry. His hand gently caressed the younger man's face, pushing his chin up gently to lock eyes, gold to black.

"Ed?" Roy asked nervously, his voice breaking a little, Ed's eyes were closed. He couldn't read what this boy was thinking, and it scared him. "Ed.. did I... scare you?" he asked, taking a step away, ready to leave the shower if the younger alchemist needed time to think.

Ed's eyes popped open wide for a moment, and he took a quick step forward, planting a long, languishing kiss on Roy's lips. It was hard to tell if he was crying, or if it was the water from the shower, but his eyes were just a little red. The kiss was less awkward than the first, prompting Roy to think that if this kid really is that fast of a learner, then he may be in for some interesting times, if this indeed continue.

He finally broke the kiss and looked deep into Roy's onyx eyes. "It is all I wanted.. and more..." Ed trailed off, not sure what else he could say, what else needed to be said. They stood there, just inches apart, barely touching for a few moments. Roy gently put his arms around his new lover and held on tight, burying his head on Ed's automail shoulder. He had looked to Ed like 100 pounds of pressure had eased off his shoulders. His eyes sparkled for the first time since he had lost his best friend, and there was a smile, a genuine smile, on his face.

"T-t-t-hank you."


	7. Chapter 8

It took every ounce of Roy's willpower to get dressed that morning. His mind was still a whirl with what had transpired over the last 24 hours. It was all so much- and that didn't help the headache that he was already developing from the scotch he had imbibed the night before.

Getting out of the shower was a bit awkward. Roy had left first to let Ed think for a few minutes. Despite being very unsure that leaving an unstable at best Edward Elric to think about such volatile things, he was pretty sure that staying with him would be worse.

Roy had gotten dressed in record time, making sure he was already out of the bedroom by the time Ed eventually left the bathroom. He had a half-hearted attempt at breakfast already made and plated for Ed when he entered the room- more silent  
that he had ever seen the moody teen- with quickly whipped up eggs and toast.

Ed, the notoriously ever hungry Ed, hardly touched his meal and had left quickly after, making some excuse about his brother needing him and some work that he had to get done. Roy couldn't help but watch Ed walk down the winding path from his doorway to the road. He had insisted on calling Havoc to give him a a ride, but Ed wouldn't hear of it.

"Stubborn idiot." Roy mumbled under his breath, a smile on his face while he watched Ed's blonde ponytail skip and and forth between his shoulder blades with each uneven step. He watched untill Ed had turned the corner and faded out of view.

"Good lord, I think I might like that damn stubborn idiot." He shook his head and turned around, closing the door softly behind him.

It was going to be a long day.

________________________________________________________________________

"How are you doing, sir?" Hawkeye asked with genuine concern when Roy stepped into the office, his hair still lightly wet and mostly disheveled. "You know, you were told that you didn't have to come in today. We understand."

Roy smiled gently. His head was pounding from the alcohol he had consumed last night, and spinning the morning. He walked past the surprised and confused looks of his fellow soldiers and towards his office door. "It's okay, Hawkeye. I need to keep working. I can't dwell on..." he paused, his smile dropping.. "on what happened. I have to keep going, for him."

'For him.' Roy thought. For Hughes, or for that short alchemist who had already wormed his way into his mind? He gently rubbed his temples and quickly grabbed a glass of the black water that someone claimed was coffee on the way into his office, closing the door lightly.

It was definitely going to be a long day.

___________________________________________________________________________

"Brother, are you alright? I know you were at Colonel Mustang's yesterday. He... didn't say or do anything to upset you, did he?"

"No, Al. it is fine. I guess I just didn't think that Lt. Col- er, Brigadier General Hughes' death would affect me so much. I guess it just took a day for it to sink in."

"Oh, okay." Al slumped his giant shoulders. Ed could hear the sadness in his tinny voice. It was almost like it was just hitting him as well. "But.. you would tell me if something was wrong- right brother?"

"Of course, Al."

"Okay."

Ed sighed. He hated lying to his brother, but trying to explain to him what had happened the night before wasn't something that he could do right now. He wasn't even sure what he thought about it himself. At least his brother didn't seem to see thru his ruse. He was still the sweet, gentle, naive brother that he had been before he was turned into a giant tin can. He wasn't a manipulative bastard, like the man Ed worried that might he have been getting feelings for.

Ed sighed. All of this was putting him in a rather bad mood.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Roy rubbed his temples again, reading the letter on the official stationary with the State seal. He was being sent back to Central. At least he had been able to convince the general that he should be able to take a few of his subordinates with him.

He smiled as he looked at the chess set that now graced his desk. Somehow, he got the feeling that game had been almost TOO easily won.

He picked up one of the white pawns, turning it gently over in his hand, running his calloused finger over the nooks and crannies of the scrimshawed game piece. "A pawn." he said, to his empty office.

He shrugged and put the piece back down with the rest. "I guess it doesn't matter either way. This should be a step up for me. I know I need to keep going, and Central is my best chance to continue with my plan. Maes wouldn't want me to stop now." He sighed, a frown working its way onto his tired face.

"Now.. what to do with Edward Elric..."

Any further thoughts were interrupted by voices from the outside office a short time later. "You can't come in here!" he heard Hawkeye the stern, commanding voice that she usually reserved for Roy when he was procrastinating (yet again) on getting his paperwork done.

"Where are they?" He heard another woman's voice, a voice Roy didn't recognize.

"I don't know." Hawkeye replied. Roy had already pulled his white glove with the red salamander array embroidered on the back out of the drawer in his desk, where it always hid, and onto his hand. In a heartbeat, he was out the door and quickly assessing the situation- his finger already poised to strike if needed.

In the room was his normal group of subordinates. They were all standing, Fuery was at the phone, finger on the rotary, about to call someone. Havoc, as usual, just looked dumbfounded. Falman and Breda were wearing about the same look as Havoc. Hawkeye, brave and always prepared Riza Hawkeye, was the only one at the ready. Her hand was on the holster at her hip.

In front of her was a woman in white and a huge beast of a man in a brown shirt that easily was Armstrong's equal in both height and girth. He didn't look angry, but he had his huge arms crossed and a stern expression on his face. The shorter woman was visibly upset, speaking loudly.

" -have to tell me where they are!" the woman was saying.

"Is there a problem here, Lt. Hawkeye?" Roy's stern voice caused everyone in the room to turn to him.

"I need to find Edward Elric." the woman stated, flatly, her dark eyes boring into his. It was the first time in a long while that he had come close to withering under another person's gaze, and that made him nervous.

"I can assure you that I have no idea where he-"

Edward Elric, as was the norm in his life, picked the absolute worst timing- barging into the room and yelling at his commanding officer.

"Hey, Colonel Bastard. I-" his voice and body stopped dead.

Al, who still couldn't see what was happening thru the doorway pushed into the back of Ed when he suddenly stopped. "What is it, brother?"

He peered over Ed's shoulder, (which was rather easy for a 7 foot walking tin can) and peered inside.

"Tea- teacher?"


	8. Chapter 9

As much as Roy tried to keep the surprise off his face, he couldn't. He had overheard Ed and Al talking about their teacher in hushed, fearful tones in the past. But this woman than had somehow invaded his inner sanctum hardly looked like the type to be feared. She wasn't particularly tall, or strong, and she seemed to have a terrible cough. But he knew full well, after being in charge of the Fullmetal Alchemist for several years, that big things can come in small packages.

"May I help you?" Roy plastered the familiar, knowing smirk on his face, the face he wore when he was dealing with someone he would rather not, but he didn't really want any of his feelings to show through his mask of smugness.

"This doesn't concern you." The woman pointed to the two boys that were still huddling  
together in the frame of the doorway, faces frozen in fear. "You two. Come here." Ed's feet were frozen in terror, but it was far scarier for him to not obey his teacher. He somehow plucked up the courage somewhere to step forward, through the doorway and into the room, moving closer to the hulking form and the small, strong woman.

"I beg to differ, ma'am." Roy said, raising his fingers slightly, thumb and middle finger already pressed together, at the ready. He tried not to let the annoyance of this woman barging in and not listening to him show on his face. "This is my office that you barged into. Anything of the goings on inside of it concerns me."

"It is okay, colonel." Ed tried to diffuse the situation with a nervous chuckle. "This is Izumi, and her husband, Sig. She is our teacher." Roy, somehow, had forgotten the almost 7 foot tall hulk of a man that was pressed into the room as well. Despite his size, he was as quiet as a mouse.

Roy took a quick look around. Fuery had his hand off the phone, but he, Breda, Falman, and Havoc were still standing, dumbfounded, not sure what to do about what was going on. Hawkeye had her hand on the handle of her gun. It was still in the holster, but he was more than satisfied that she could retrieve it fast enough if needed.

"Perhaps, we should go elsewhere, teacher?" Al finally chimed in to break the oppressive silence. If a 7 foot tall hunk of armor could look like it was sweating, he would have at that moment.

To the relief of everyone in the room, Izumi untensed her body, standing up straight. A smile crossed her face. "Yes. Let's." was all she said. She walked to the door, nonchalantly grabbing the braid of Ed's ponytail and dragging him backwards after her. Al followed quickly behind, trying to keep the screaming teenager from falling over.

When the room was quiet again, and everyone was able to breath again, Roy chuckled. He sighed loudly and looked over. Hawkeye's hand- now rather white knuckled- came off of her gun and back to her side.

"Well, what the hell was that about?" Havoc asked, smirking.

Roy smiled and took his glove off of his hand. "I am not really sure, but I am going to have a serious talk with Fullmetal later about this." He walked back to his office and closed the door, putting the glove back in its accustomed drawer. "If that psycho doesn't kill them both first." he muttered, staring at the stack of papers on his desk. He rubbed his temples. His headache apparently wasn't going to get any better today.

_____________________________________________________________________________

When 1700 hours rolled around, and nobody had heard from Edward yet, most of the people in the office didn't think much about it. Those boys had always been pretty good at losing themselves in the library, staying until they either fell asleep and/or were kicked out by the staff at closing time.

Most of the crew left right at the top of the hour. Havoc claimed that he had a date, but Breda, who left with him, seriously doubted it. Fuery, like a puppy dog, followed them loyally as they headed out for the night.

Hawkeye stayed behind for a few minutes, wondering why the Colonel wasn't leaving at the first moment that he was able to, as usual. Roy made a lame excuse that he had work to finish, which actually wasn't much of an excuse at all. He had been worried about Ed all afternoon, and had been procrastinating even worse than usual, if that was even possible.

Eventually, Hawkeye had to leave. She couldn't forget that Black Hayate needed to be fed and walked. She didn't want any "presents" waiting for her, like the last time that she had to work late.

"Just promise me you won't sleep here at the office, like you did the last time I left you alone." Hawkeye said. The rest of the sentence didn't need saying: 'When you got the news about Hughes' death'. She didn't get a response, just a noncommittal shrug an a grunt. She sighed softly and exited his office for the night, closing the door behind her.

Roy sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. His mind wandered back to the shower that he and Ed had shared just that morning, and a twinge of regret formed, knotting the pit of his stomach. Had he scared Ed away? Had he been too forceful? Would he even see Ed again? Should he have let those two boys be drug away by that psychotic woman? They seemed okay with her, even if they had been a little spooked. But he swore, if that woman harmed one single hair on Edward's head, then he wouldn't be as forgiving as he had been to that train hijacker years ago- the first time he and Ed met.

He opened his eyes, very surprised to see his fingers had reflexively gone into the state of ready, his finger and thumb together, bare skin to bare skin. Just thinking about protecting the young man that he had almost come to care for made him ready to run through the fires of hell.

__________________________________________________________________________________

A gentle touch. A soft caress. Hands moving through amber locks, like wheat in a cornfield. Lips press to lips. Soft groans. Two bodies moving like one. A dance of sheer pleasure. No words need to be spoken. Just live in the moment. For the now.

For the boy.

_______________________________________________________________________________

"Sir." No response.

"Sir!" A gentle shake. No response.

"Colonel Mustang, sir!" She shook him harder, and got a little response, a grunt and a slight shifting of his body. A few more moments of shaking and Mustang awoke with a sputter, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his well-wrinkled blue sleeve.

"So I guess I can't expect you to keep your promises, sir?" She stared down at him, giving him a slight smile. He blinked, taking a moment to process what she said through his still groggy mind.

"Did.. we hear anything from Ed?"

Hawkeye didn't outwardly show her surprise at Roy calling Edward by such an informal name. It was usually Fullmetal, or at least Edward. Suspicions lingered inside her mind, but she shook them away, filing them in the back of her mind, for the moment at least.

"No sir, not yet."

"Send Ross and Bloch down to the library to check if they snuck in. Also, tell Havoc to ask around and see what he can find out. Have Fuery monitor the radio traffic. Report back to me if you get any leads." For a moment, Hawkeye stood still. She eyed him, and he stared back at her, his deep onyx eyes boring into her chestnut brown orbs. He wasn't sure if it was curious suspicion that he caught in her gaze, a gaze that he was sure that would melt a lesser man, or something more. "Is there a problem, Lt. Hawkeye?" Roy asked, frustration evident in his tone.

"No, sir." She saluted.

"Good, Carry on, Lt." He saluted back.

"Yes sir. She turned sharply on her heels and left, closing the door of the office behind sighed and pulled a note that had plastered itself on his forehead when he fell asleep the night before.

"Ed, come back. I miss you."


	9. Chapter 10

The day crawled on for Roy Mustang. No papers were signed. Coffee flowed like water, and by mid afternoon his hands shook so hard that even if he had wanted to sign his name to the papers that loomed in front of him, he probably wouldn't have been able to.

His coworkers gave him as wide of a berth as they could that day. They felt slightly bad for Hawkeye, who was the only one strong enough and with enough reason to purposefully go into the Mustang Den and brave the red eyed, eggshell walking colonel.

Hawkeye sighed, her shoulders slumping. The afternoon was wearing down and there was still no sign of the two boys, and now she had to go tell the colonel that Havoc had just come back with no new information. It wasn't like her at all to fear her commanding officer, and to try to procrastinate about going into his office, but this was a mood that she hadn't seen him in in a long time.

Tensing her whole body, she knocked quietly. After predictably not getting an answer, she slowly opened the door. "Sir?" she asked.

The colonel was asleep, with a half spilt glass of what she was guessing was coffee spiked with more than a little bit of whiskey that he had stolen in and hidden from her, threatning to soak the paperwork that had continued to pile up on his desk throuout the day. He was snoring lightly, and a troubled look was etched hard onto his face. He was softly mumbling, but it was so low that she couldn't understand what he was saying.

"Sir, please wake up." She shook him hard, and he awoke with a start, his bare fingers reflexivly moving to the ready to snap position. She relaxed her posture and raised her hands, palms towards him. "Sir, it is just me, Lt. Hawkeye. You were asleep. Again."

Roy smacked his lips sleepily, licking his parched lips with a dry tongue. He blinked sleepily and looked at Hawkeye with half-lidded eyes- hardly any of the onyx pupils showing through.

"Oh, Hawkeye. It's you." His voice was thick with sleep and lower than usual. He did a little stretch, then looked at her, cocking his head to the side just a slight bit. "Was there.. something you needed, Lt.?"

"Well, it is 1545 hours sir, and so far there has been no sign of the Elric brothers. Havoc talked with all of his contacts, and no one has heard anything. Fuery has been monitoring radio traffic, but there has been nothing about either of the boys over those channels, either. It's like they just dissapeared. I am sorry sir. I wish I had better news."

Mustang was stoic, his stone face not betraying his thoughts. "Thank you, Lt., I appreciate the update. He looked to the stack of papers, quickly uprighting the glass and cleaning up the spilt mess with napkins while he talked. "Now, if there is nothing else to report, then I trust you will leave me to do my paperwork."

Hawkeye knew damn well that no paperwork was going to be done, but ever the loyal solider, she nodded her head, making a mental note of the colonel's slightly slurred speech. She saluted. "Yes, sir. And just for the record sir, I *WILL* be staying until you leave tonight to make sure that you don't sleep in your office again."

"Duly noted. Thank you, Lt., you may go." He stood up somewhat shakily, keeping one hand on the desk to steady himself and saluting with the other hand. Hawkeye saluted back again, and left, closing the door behind her.

Roy looked at the mound of paperwork, sighed, and took the first piece off the stack, trying to read it. His eyes blurred, and all the words blended together. He was vaguely aware that it was some sort of request for a better variety of food at the canteen. He turned the paper over, backwards, upside down, sideways, trying to make the words jump out at him.

Fifteen minutes later, when his head was aching from looking at the same sheet of paper the entire time, the phone rang. He literally jumped out of his seat, the paper flying out of his hands, and his seat on wheels rolling backwards, depositing him painfully on his tailbone on the floor in the middle of his office.

He stood up, rubbing his rear, lamenting that he had at least two aching bodyparts now. He secretly hoped that the phone would magically stop ringing, guessing that it was one of the generals who had some petty job for him that he would, as usual, pawn off on one of his subordinates.

He sighed softly, missing the times his phone would ring 4 or 5 times a day, and he would hear that goofball of a Lt. Colonel on the line talking about the latest exploits of his daughter. A frown filled his face.

"Maes." he almost whispered, fighting the lump in his throat and the moisture that threatened to well up in his eyes. He grumbled, hearing the phone ring yet again.

"Mustang." He finally answered the phone in a intensly uninterested, monotone voice.

"Hey, Colonel Bastard. It's me."

"Ed?"

"Yeah, Look. Al and I are going on a little trip. I have to make this call fast before she finds out where I went." There was a sharp train whistle in the background, which caused Ed to have to halt for a moment. "I will try to give you a call later. We are going to be in Dublith-"

"ED!" Roy almost had to pull the phone away from his ear, the voice on the other side was so loud. There was a click, and then it was over. Roy let out a huge sigh, his shoulders slumped, and a smile came unbidden to his face.

"At least I know you are alright, Ed." he said to nobody on the other side of the line, and he put the phone back on it's cradle. He took a second to compose himself and he opened the door into the outer office, his face set back into stone.

"Fuery was monitoring the call, sir. We heard." Hawkeye's featured had lightened, she almost had what started to look like a tiny smile on her face. She seemed as glad as him that the brothers were alright, at least for the moment. The rest of the officers, Falman, Breda, and Havoc were smiling, glad to see that thier colonel was in a better mood. He wasn't jovial, but at least he didn't look ready to bite thier heads off at the slightest odd glance.

"I think I need to take off a little early, Hawkeye. My head is killing me, and I didn't get a good night's sleep last night." He didn't even bother to tell her about the bruise that he knew was forming over his tailbone. Hawkeye smiled inwardly. Only those two knew that he had slept there last night, although it could be easily inferred what had happened with his unkempt, unwashed hair and his wrinkled clothes.

"Okay, sir. You get a good night's rest. Havoc, please make sure he gets home safe."

"Yessir!" Havoc saluted and jumped up, following his colonel out the door.

After a long, hot shower and a light meal, Roy felt much better than he had in the last couple of days. He relaxed on his couch, with the radio playing softly, an alchemy book in his lap, and a scotch poured and ready for consumption. He opened the book and started to read, but he found it hard to concentrate on the words in front of him.

He smiled and closed the book on his lap. He took a sip of his scotch, almost enjoying the soft burn and it trailed down his throat. His mind wandered back to the phone call. He had already replayed it in his mind dozens of times. It was burnt into his brain like a snap from his fingers.

"Colonel Bastard." He said it softly, pondering the phrase. Ed hadn't sounded mad at him, he was nervous and his speech was quickened, but he could tell that it was more of a fear of getting caught. And he had been. All Roy could do was hope that Ed wasn't harmed by that psycho for reporting back to his office.

Without even being aware of it, Roy's hand drifted down to his leg, rubbing the inside of his thigh through the material of his dress blues. A soft moan escaped his lips, and a smile crept across his face. He put the book on the table and sat the glass down beside it. He got up and headed back towards his bedroom, taking his jacket off on the way, one word on his lips.

"Edward."


	10. Chapter 11

"Brother? What are you thinking about?"

Ed put the alchemy book down that he had been trying to read for the last hour. He was sure that Al had noticed that he had been attempting to read the same page for the entire time.

"Nothing. Now get back to reading." Ed snapped.

"You haven't been reading at all, Brother. Tell me what is wrong. Ever since we got here your mind has been elsewhere. I know Teacher is scary, but I think it is something else. Tell me what is wrong. Please."

Even in a 7 foot tall suit of armor, Ed couldn't resist the pleading face he could somehow tell that his Al was making at him. He let out a deep breath and put the book down.

"I am.. just thinking about everyone back at Central. I know I got a quick phone call back to them, but I don't know what is happening there. We already lost Hughes, and Scar is still on the loose. I... am worried."

Al dropped his head a little. "I still can't believe he is gone.... He was a great man."

"Yeah." Ed looked straight at Al, a fire in his amber eyes. "We need to find a way to get away from Teacher so we can get back to Central- back to our research, and back to looking for Scar. I still don't know what she intends to do with us here. Wouldn't she want us to be back where we could study?" He picked up the book again, actually starting to read it this time.

"She is hard to read, sometimes, but she is a good teacher. I am sure she knows what she is doing, and it is for the best, brother." Al picked up another book from the growing pile at their feet.

Ed shrugged, and flipped the page, his eyes scanning quickly back and forth over the ancient lines of text. "Yeah, I guess so."

They were able to read in silence for a few minutes before the door opened with a creak, and a fast slam closed, frightening the books out of both of the boys' grips. Izumi Curtis came storming into the room, a sour look on her face.

"Follow me, *NOW*." That was all she said. She turned on her heel and headed straight back for the door. Ed and Al were only able to give each other a quick look of confusion and terror before they threw the books down and stood up, fighting stiff necks and tingling legs, devoid of circulation to follow their teacher wherever she was leading them.

______________________________________________________________

Roy Mustang stood behind his office desk, still littered with papers that needed to be signed by the end of the quickly dwindling day. He knew he was likely going to get shot at by Hawkeye for not finishing them yet, but at the moment he had a more important job to do.

He watched as they all filed in, one after the other, and stood straight and proud before him. If had been less of a man, he wouldn't have been able to hold back his pride at seeing his loyal soldiers before him, ready to obey his every order.

But luckily for him Roy Mustang was no ordinary solider. So he stood before them, uniform perfectly pressed, stone faced and silent as they waited for their commander's word.

"Warrant Officer Vato Falman." he started. "Master Sergeant Kain Fuery, Second Lt. Heymans Breda, Second Lt. Jean Havoc, and First Lt. Riza Hawkeye. I have called you all here to tell you that you are going to be transferring with me to Central Command. If you have any objections, I suggest you get over them, now."

He was glad to see that none of his officers flinched the tiniest bit when he said that. They were going to follow him, into hell if he asked. And he knew wherever he led them, their fate would be his as well.

"You are dismissed." He snapped a crisp salute, which they all returned, and just as they had come in, they filed back out. Roy was glad that they had all turned away, because he had to smile when Havoc started to complain to Breda as they left that he had just found a girlfriend and now he was going to have to dump her. Roy made a mental note to take him out for a drink to make it up to him one night.

_____________________________________________________________

Laying in bed, Ed was pretty sure that he knew how Al felt every night. His whole body was tired, but he just couldn't sleep. So much had happened that day. Ed had managed to save a kitten from falling off the roof, but in doing so he had done alchemy without circles in front of his teacher- something she had never seen him do before. That had resulted in a lot of questions, and a lot of bruises from Teacher before she had finally given in and let them all cry.

His whole body was sore, and he ached from head to toe. He had welts and bruises covering most of his body, but he couldn't figure out why his heart was aching. He had called Colonel Bastard the day before, and as usual he had sounded cold and distant. But Ed thought that he had heard his voice perk just the tiniest bit as had said 'Ed?', trying to decide if he really believed who it was on the other side of the line.

He sighed softly. There was no way he could sneak to a phone here. He knew his brother was awake, even if he was being quiet at the moment. And even if he did, he doubted he could get enough time to make a call. He looked up at the clock. Nobody would be at the office anyways, and there was no way he could attempt to find Mustang's private number without arousing way too much suspicion.

Ed rolled over to his side, his back facing his brother. It took him until then to notice that he hadn't even undressed yet, so with a squeak of the bed springs, he stood up and slowly deposited his clothing, a layer at a time in a pile on the floor and slipped back into bed with his boxer shorts and an undershirt on.

His breath caught as he noticed the tenting coming from his boxers. As much as he had been trying not to think about it.. or him, Mustang kept creeping back into his mind, and his body was betraying him again. 'Damn teenage hormones', he cursed under his breath, his face turning a deep red.

He rolled to his side again, away from the towering hunk of metal and pulled the covers tight over him, muttering under his breath and praying to some deity that he didn't believe in that his brother wouldn't hear him moving or the bed squeaking as he ran his hand down his front and under the waistline of his boxer shorts.

A small moan of pleasure escaped his lips, and he bit his bottom lip to quiet himself so hard that he felt and tasted the coppery trickle of blood.

"Mmmmm... colonel.. b-b-astard.." he groaned, as he quickly grasped himself and started to stroke slowly at first, trying to ease the dull ache in his heart.


	11. Chapter 12

"Thank you, Teacher." Al bowed low, getting a return bow from Izumi Curtis. Ed was busy, trying to dig a piece of dirt out from under his fingernail, concentrating with a steely glare. Al elbowed him- Ed let out a quick breath and came back to the present, doing a small bow to his teacher as well.

"We appreciate this, Teacher. There is a lot that we still need to learn in Central. I promise you that we will come back visit you soon, when we can stay longer and learn more." Al bowed again. He grabbed his brother, who had gone back to a detailed examination of his fingernails and pulled him bodily out of the room.

"That was way too easy, Al." Ed said a short time later in the bedroom that they had been sharing, while he was folding his clothes and packing them in his small, weathered leather suitcase. "Why would she let us go after grabbing us and sending us here just less than a week ago?"

Al shrugged, and helped Ed with a few of the alchemy books that he had managed to smuggle along. "I don't know how Teacher thinks, brother. But let's catch a train before she changes her mind." He shut the suitcase and picked it up, walking towards the bedroom door. Ed shrugged his shoulders and stood up from the bed to follow.

"Yeah."

It wasn't long before Mason was driving the boys towards the train station. He dropped them off with a box lunch and a warning from Izumi that if either of them ever found out that they tried some kind of human transmutation again, that she wouldn't be as forgiving the next time.

"Don't worry, Mason. We aren't trying to bring our mother back any more." Mason gave him a look. He knew that they weren't telling him everything, but he didn't say anything about it. He just smiled and shrugged, getting back into the car.

"Be well, you two!" He grinned and waved from the driver's seat as he drove away from the train station. Al grabbed the suitcases and carried them to a bench while Ed bought them a couple of tickets back to Central. He walked back to his brother and handed him a ticket.

"It is gonna be a few hours, Al. I'm sorry. We just missed the last train of the morning. You can just relax here for a while. I am gonna make a phone call. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Okay, brother." Al sounded like he was smiling. He leaned his head up to the sky and watched the flocks of birds that marked the change in seasons.

"Mustang."

"Hey, bastard."

"Fullmetal. So, you aren't dead after all."

"Yeah, I missed you too, asshole."

Roy's voice deepened almost immediately. "Let me give you a more secure line to call, Fullmetal. I have too many prying ears around here."

Edward jotted down the number that he was given, and agreed to give Mustang about 5 minutes to get to the other phone.

As soon as Roy put the phone down, he smiled broadly. Quickly, he got up and went out to the main office, closing his door behind him.

"Lt. Hawkeye, I am going for a walk. I will be back shortly." He hardly broke his stride while telling her his plans. By the time he had finished, he was almost to the door. He grabbed his charcoal grey greatcoat and started to open the outer office door.

"Sir, you still have a lot of paperwork to do."

"I will do it when I get back." His voice was much more stern than usual, and it caused even Hawkeye to back down. Her face soured and he detected the smallest hint of a sigh in her voice.

"Yes, sir."

Roy smiled slightly and walked out the door, closing the door behind him and shrugging on his greatcoat. His pace was quick while he walked through the hallways that were second nature to him, and out of Central Command. He rounded the corner of the huge building, his pace speeding up even more as the phone booth came into view from a distance.

Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks. He had used this same phone booth many times before while he had been stationed in Central, until his promotion and move to the East. It was the closest booth to Central Command, and he had set up many dates on that very phone.

But things had changed.

When things had started to blossom between him and Hughes, the phone calls to women halted, and it became quick, secret calls to a lover who already had a wife and child- calls so no one else would know of the love that they shared. He would share 'I love yous' with the man that he knew he loved, but he could never have.

Hughes, his dear lover Hughes- this is where he had fallen. The floor was still stained dark where the blood had stained the ground. The cleanup crew had tried to clean as much of the blood as they could, but there was no way to lift the stain or the memory of what had happened such a short time ago.

Roy frowned, his mood suddenly much darker than it been just a few minutes ago on the phone with Edward. He looked around, but there were no other phone booths close by, and besides, he really couldn't ask Edward to call him back yet another time. He didn't know the phone numbers of any other booths by heart, anyways.

He sighed and stood slightly away from the phone box, almost like he was afraid to touch it. He didn't want to get close to it. Just being there sent a shiver down his spine. He felt goose bumps forming on his arms. Even though his thick overcoat and the layers of his uniform, he felt cold- and shivered.

The phone rang. He walked towards the door, but his steps slowed, the closer he got. It was just too strange to him, being there. He swore for a moment that he *felt* Hughes close by. There was some... intangible force surrounding him. He shivered again, wondering if he would do better to just leave.

It rang again. He knew he needed to answer it, but something... someone?.. was stopping him. His breath shortened and his heart pounded. The phone rang a third time. He knew how pissed Edward would be if he didn't answer the phone. As much as he didn't want to deal with the phone booth now, he wanted even less to deal with the wrath of Edward later. The thought of having to calm down a pissed off Edward was the only motivation that moved Roy Mustang to answer the phone halfway through the fourth ring.

"Mustang."

"Geez, bastard. Even at a payphone you are so stiff and formal."

"I just wanted to make sure that it was you, Fullmetal."

"You know, I *DO* have a first name."

"Sorry... Edward. So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call, Edward?"

Ed cringed with the tone and inflection of his voice on the last word. He could just feel the sarcasm dripping from the other side of the phone.

"Is there any way that for five minutes you can not be a bastard, colonel?"

"Yes. Actually, I am glad to hear from you, Edward. The rest of the staff was worried when that.. woman drug you away from the office."

"And let me guess, you didn't care, right?" Ed's voice rose dangerously high on the other side of the line. As much Roy loved baiting Ed, he knew he was playing a dangerous game, walking a thin line. He had given Ed a little line, now it was time to draw him back in.

"To the contrary, Edward. I was very glad to hear from you the other day, even though it was brief. I am guessing that you have a few more minutes to talk this time?"

"Well, yeah. I was actually calling to tell you that Al and I are on our way back to Central. We have a few hours until our train arrives, and it will be a long, boring ride back, but we should be back pretty soon."

Roy pulled the bottom of the phone away from his mouth while he sighed. He tried not to smile while he responded. He knew that even though the person on the other side of the phone couldn't see, they can still tell when you are speaking with a smile on your face. It comes thru in the way one talks. He was afraid of letting on too much, too soon.

"That is good to hear, Fullmetal." He did allow a small smile as he could practically see the young man fuming on the other side of the line. "So, what did you plan to do while you are waiting for the train?" He tried not to laugh when he heard Edward sputtering.

"Well, it is too damn bad that we are both in public places, or else I would remind you about the shower last week, and how you decided to pull your underage subordinate in the shower and have your way with them.."

"And I would remind that underage subordinate that he was the one that walked into the bathroom while his *SUPERIOR*.." and he great emphasized the last word, "..officer was naked in the shower and that the younger officer initiated the conversation."

"And yet it was the *OLDER* officer that pulled me into the shower and started to stroke at the helpless younger man..."

"But the younger man sure didn't object, did he? In fact, I seem to remember that the 'young man' pulled me into a kiss and started to suck on my face."

"Yeah, then you were sucking on my neck. And then it was.. something else.."

Roy gulped audibly. He didn't have to look down to know that his pants were very uncomfortably tight. He felt the low, throbbing ache that came with desire. He wondered if Ed felt the same way. "If this is your weird, sick way of trying to get some phone sex out of me, it isn't going to work, Fullmetal." He tried to sound stern, but there was no hiding the slight waver in his voice, the husky, deep undertone, edged with need.

"You know.. You.. you really are a bastard, you know that?" Roy smiled as Ed exploded over the phone. "I hope you enjoy that raging hard on I gave you, because it's the last one you'll get from me!" Roy pulled the phone away from his ear briefly at the loud noise the phone made when Ed slammed the receiver down.

For the briefest of moments, he wondered if he had finally pushed Ed just a little too far. He really did care for the boy, the young man that he was becoming. Had he just ruined it all with one tiny comment? He sighed and put his end of the receiver down and looked down at himself. He really did have an issue that he had to deal with, and soon.

He looked around. For right now at least, the streets were empty, but he had no intentions of giving anyone a free show if they happened by. He wasn't going to head back to Central Command in this shape either. He knew there was a little cafe close by, so he made a beeline for it, holding his greatcoat over his waist to cover the tenting fabric of the front of his dress blue pants.

A few minutes later, he came back out, feeling much better. He adjusted his greatcoat on his thin shoulders and grabbed a cup of coffee from the cafe before heading back towards Central Command. He had a smile on his face and he whistled a little tune, feeling much better right now than he had in quite a while.


End file.
